At the present time, volatile medication such as sodium bicarbonate is not pre-packaged in syringes since under some storage conditions, carbon dioxide might be evolved from the solution and leak from the syringe. Any such leakage would, of course, alter the chemical composition of the solution which is quite critical and must be within the range pH 7.5 to 8.0 at the time of administration. This pH range represents a solution which is supersaturated with carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure. The commercially available sodium bicarbonate solution for medical use are packaged in several different ways. In one way, the sodium bicarbonate solution is sealed in a glass ampule at the time of manufacture. The ampule maintains the solution under its own vapor pressure so that the composition of the solution remains constant. However, at the time of use, the nurse or technician opens the ampule by sawing off the neck of the ampule with a file. The contents of the ampule is then drawn into a hypodermic syringe which is used for injection of the solution into the patient, or transfered to a bottle for intravenous administration. The opening of the ampule to the atmosphere permits the escape of carbon dioxide just prior to use, and hence there is no assurance that the injected medication is of the proper pH. Another package comprises a vial having a non-reciprocating rubber stopper at its open end. The rubber stopper is held in place by an overlying crimped metal seal. The contents of the vial are withdrawn for use by tearing away the metal seal, and aspirating the contents of the vial into a syringe. This procedure requires the injection of air into the vial to displace the medication being withdrawn, and thereby permits the loss of carbon dioxide to the vapor or air introduced into the vial in the transfer operation.
As those skilled in the art know, sodium bicarbonate solution is a life-saving drug used primarily to avoid acidosis in the case of cardiac arrest. The use of the drug normally occurs in emergency conditions which call for a rather precise pH range. It can be seen that the available packages do not meet these critical requirements and are also cumbersome and time consuming in use. The present invention is addressed to the solution of this longstanding problem in the art. It is believed that the novel package of this invention which provides for a closed system of transfer will increase the effectiveness of sodium bicarbonate solutions under emergency conditions, and will receive ready acceptance in hospitals.